Nick Cave has shared how he ended up inviting Carly Paradis to join The Bad Seeds after realising she was the composer behind the theme for Line Of Duty.
Answering a fan’s question on his website The Red Hand Files, Cave reflected on how the Canadian born British composer, songwriter and pianist came on board as the band’s keyboardist in 2022.
Paradis is widely known for her work in film and television, including writing the theme music for the BBC police drama Line Of Duty.
When asked to elaborate on the “astonishingly talented woman”, Cave looked back on the moment former Bad Seeds member Barry Adamson phoned him to say he had reached the end of the road and no longer wished to continue with the group.
Cave first reached out to keyboard player Larry Mullins, who had been suggested by drummer Thomas Wydler. Soon after, however, Mullins became unwell and was unable to tour.
It then emerged that Larry was also an exceptional drummer, having played with Iggy Pop and Swans among others, so the band shifted him onto drums. That change left them searching for someone to take over on keys once again.
Cave admitted he had grown frustrated with the constant reshuffling. He asked his manager to compile a shortlist of possible replacements. A week later he received a selection of names and photos, but he said it was immediately clear that most of them would not survive long in The Bad Seeds.
At the bottom of the list was Carly Paradis, though her résumé largely highlighted her background in television scoring.
Cave confessed he was not initially convinced, until he realised she had written the theme for the English cop series Line of Duty, which he described as brilliant. “I rang her straight away and asked if she wanted to join The Bad Seeds. She did, and that was that.”
The singer agreed with the fan’s description of Paradis as “astonishingly talented”. He wrote that when she entered The Bad Seeds, a group he described as a hardened and heavily male environment, she immediately transformed the atmosphere. According to Cave, she brought remarkable musicianship as well as warmth, humour and a refreshing female presence that the band had long been missing. “We love her.”
Cave also listed what he called three lesser known skills she possesses. “Firstly, she is a world class whistler, she has won trophies, cups, medals, all sorts of stuff, and can imitate any North American bird perfectly. Secondly, she can perform a trick with a piece of fruit, tossing it in the air, bouncing it off her bicep, and catching it again. And thirdly, she has another trick where she cups her hands together in the swimming pool and makes water shoot straight up into the air.”
He added that during friendly competitions she outperforms everyone in the group, including Jim Sclavunos, despite his hands being twice the size of hers.
Cave finished by saying the keyboardist is anything but ordinary, playfully responding to the fan who admitted he had “developed a massive crush on” her. “I showed her your question, and she asked if you could please send a recent photograph. Love, Nick.”
Elsewhere, Cave is due to feature on Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea’s first solo album, ‘Honora’, alongside Radiohead singer Thom Yorke. Late last year, his song ‘Train Dreams’ from the film of the same title was shortlisted for Best Original Song at the Oscars 2026.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds put out a live album titled ‘Live God’ last December. The release documents their celebrated tour supporting the 2024 record ‘Wild God’. An online version of Cave’s ‘Stranger Than Kindness’ exhibition also went live toward the end of 2025.
This year, Cave and the band will head out on a UK and European tour, highlighted by a major hometown show at Brighton’s Preston Park. They are also scheduled to appear at festivals including Mad Cool, NOS Alive, Open’er and Øya.
In November, the BBC announced that Line Of Duty will return for a seventh series. That same month saw the release of a new television adaptation of Cave’s 2009 novel The Death Of Bunny Munro.
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